Category Archives: Interview

It’s kind of become a tradition that I interview the contributors to my anthologies and share those interviews on my blog. It’s also kind of become a tradition that it takes me a very long time to get them all posted. I plan to continue the first tradition but I’m hoping to avoid the second. Just to be different.

We’re continuing the Chimeric contributor interviews today with Simon Kewin. I’ve been working with Simon for so long I’m not even sure where our professional relationship began, but I’m extremely pleased that it did. Not only is Simon’s work in all three alphabet anthologies, he also has a story in my forthcoming Sirens anthology 🙂

What letter were you assigned?

F

Did you struggle with the letter you were given?

Everything fell into place quite nicely. I had a few ideas for a story, but given the letter and the theme, there was really only one story I could write.

What was your favourite idea for the ‘word’ to use in your title that you didn’t use?

One early idea was to write a story about a slightly rubbish superhero called Fishmonkeyman. Quite pleased I didn’t go with that idea in hindsight.

What kind of chimera is your story about?

Without giving too much away, my chimera isn’t one made up of body-parts from wildly different species; I’m using the word more in its biological than its mythological sense.

What, other than the letter you were assigned, helped inspire your story?

My story references another quite well-known story, and it was thinking about that – the author’s original intent and where it was left – that gave me a way in to my tale.

Lion, goat or snake–which are you more like?

Umm, tricky. If I had a choice I’d probably go for the lion – although as a vegetarian, that’s probably not going to work out that well…

If you were going to be magically transformed into a chimera composed of three different creatures, what would you want them to be?

Can I include wise and all-powerful aliens entities from beyond space? Failing that, I’d go for something that could fly, something that could swim and something that could lie around in the sun. Eagle/dolphin/lion would do…

What if it wasn’t limited to creatures? What three things would you want to be composed of?

An artifical biomechanical body capable of hosting a human mental matrix whilst being inifinitely repairable and modifiable would do nicely.

Unrealizable dreams have been called chimeras. Taking the ‘unrealizable’ part out of the equation, what is one of your fondest dreams/goals?

I’m quite keen on the idea of immortality. Probably not going to happen, but it would be good…

Can you share a short excerpt from your story?

There were things he needed to understand, too. Questions that needed answers. Whose fingers did he slip into the fish’s mouth to break its spine and end its suffering? Whose muscles sawed at the ice to open up access to the water? Whose eyes did he see the world through? Whose brain, even, thought these thoughts, asked these questions? Who were they, all the poor, broken wretches that were him? Young or old? Male or female? He could tell from his external appearance that young, strong men made up a large part of his anatomy. But his organs? His inner workings? He didn’t know.

He didn’t know who he was.

Simon Kewin is the author of over 100 published short and flash stories. His works have appeared in Nature, Daily Science Fiction, Abyss & Apex and many more. He lives in England with his wife and their daughters. The second volume in his Cloven Land fantasy trilogy was recently published. Find him at simonkewin.co.uk.

It’s kind of become a tradition that I interview the contributors to my anthologies and share those interviews on my blog. It’s also kind of become a tradition that it takes me a very long time to get them all posted. I plan to continue the first tradition but I’m hoping to avoid the second. Just to be different.

Today’s interview is with L.S. Johnson. I first learned of L.S.’s work when she submitted an amazing story, The Queen of Lakes, to Faeand I’ve been enamored with her work ever since. When she accepted my invitation to contribute to B is for Broken I was ecstatic, and even more so to have her stick around for C is for Chimera 🙂

What letter were you assigned?

R

Did you struggle with the letter you were given?

Actually, no! I had already started sketching out this story, title and all. That the title began with R and the story dealt with chimeras in a few different ways was pure serendipity.

What was your favourite idea for the ‘word’ to use in your title that you didn’t use?

No alternatives this time, it was full speed ahead on the idea I had. Though I will say that there is a version of this story that is twice as long, with a present-day framing narrative that I just couldn’t make work. Perhaps someday there will be an alt version?

What kind of chimera is your story about?

Well, it’s based on the story of Philomela and Procne, which like many Greek myths involves a physical transformation. But a chimera can also be an illusion of the mind, a mental fantasy, and part of the story is about how narratives frame events, especially when they’re based on a feminine ideal that has little to do with reality.

What, other than the letter you were assigned, helped inspire your story?

I had a lovely great-aunt who was a recluse; she lived in an apartment in Queens, hardly ever went out, and seemed to subsist on candy, Cheez Doodles, and the occasional roast dinner. I only met her a couple of times in my childhood, but I always thought of her apartment as a kind of nest—her own little world in a vast hive of similar spaces. I used to look at the flat windows of her building and wonder how many others were like her, looking out but never seen.

Lion, goat or snake–which are you more like?

Snake, for better or worse.

If you were going to be magically transformed into a chimera composed of three different creatures, what would you want them to be?

Bird-cat. Don’t need a third. Just bird-cat.

What if it wasn’t limited to creatures? What three things would you want to be composed of?

Cotton lawn, a Leuchtturm journal, and the smell of my youngest cat’s fur.

Unrealizable dreams have been called chimeras. Taking the ‘unrealizable’ part out of the equation, what is one of your fondest dreams/goals?

To finally feel settled somewhere. I live very far from my family, and my spouse is from another country entirely; yet my hometown has become far too expensive for us to ever consider moving back. Try as I might, California has never quite felt like “home”, so I keep hoping that one day we might find a place that does.

Can you share a short excerpt from your story?

Her mother had often told her bedtime stories that weren’t in books, stories from the old world, stories her mother’s mother had told, and her mother before that, and so on . . . Stories of women who were changed into things, river rocks and fleet deer, nightingales and sparrows and tall, twisting trees: always they were betrayed by someone and then swiftly changed, to save them from a worse fate. And then she was no more of this world, her mother would always finish, and then she would pretend to show Elsa something from the woman in question—a leaf, a feather. But such endings had never felt like escapes to Elsa. They felt like condemnations, and her dreams would be filled with monstrous images of animals with women’s faces, their silent mouths screaming endlessly.

Only now did Elsa understand her child-self had been right, that those stories weren’t fantasies. They were warnings.

L.S. Johnson lives in Northern California. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Long Hidden, Fae, Lackington’s, Strange Tales V, and other venues. Currently she’s working on a fantasy trilogy set in 18th century Europe. Find her online at http://traversingz.com/.

It’s kind of become a tradition that I interview the contributors to my anthologies and share those interviews on my blog. It’s also kind of become a tradition that it takes me a very long time to get them all posted. I plan to continue the first tradition but I’m hoping to avoid the second. Just to be different.

We’re continuing the Chimeric contributor interviews with Pete Aldin. I believe Pete and I first crossed paths when he was a contributor to Niteblade, but I’ve also had the pleasure of including his work in all three Alphabet Anthologies so far, and even co-written a story with him (unpublished). Interesting fact about Pete, he was the first contributor to send me his story for C is for Chimera and his D is for Dinosaur story is already sitting in my inbox!

What letter were you assigned?

D

Did you struggle with the letter you were given?

Not at all. Last time was tougher when I got a W. D had lots of possibilities.

What was your favourite idea for the ‘word’ to use in your title that you didn’t use?

Diddly.

What kind of chimera is your story about?

A composite creature made up of all that has lived and died on planet earth over the eons.

What, other than the letter you were assigned, helped inspire your story?

My strong belief in loving relationships. My belief in a purpose for life. And my cynicism. Weird combo, huh?

Lion, goat or snake–which are you more like?

Goat. Eat anything. Kind of gangly too.

If you were going to be magically transformed into a chimera composed of three different creatures, what would you want them to be?

Chimp. Cameleon. Octopus.

What if it wasn’t limited to creatures? What three things would you want to be composed of?

…Gold, frankincense, myrrh??

Unrealizable dreams have been called chimeras. Taking the ‘unrealizable’ part out of the equation, what is one of your fondest dreams/goals?

Honestly, writing for this series is a dream. And I’m livin’ it!

Can you share a short excerpt from your story?

He saw it then in a flash of insight–or was it memory? The one never far below the surface–all he had to do at any given time was scratch the veneer of Now and the images and sounds and smells and emotions would come screaming into center-camera as if it was happening all over again. The wreck. The flames. The blood. The screaming.

Nineteen years old and just having fun, out driving with Mike. Stupid drunk Mike who never should have been behind the wheel even when sober. Mike driving without lights while Alec cranked up the stereo and hollered in testosterone-inspired glossolalia. The little Toyota appearing from nowhere at the intersection, the pickup hammering into it and sending it spinning spinning spinning until the telephone pole arrested its dance. Mike bleeding from the forehead and nose, slumped back in his seat, groaning…

Alec sobbing no no no as he stumbled on bruised legs toward the other car. Fire leaping from under the hood. Inside the driver enmeshed in metal, his brains leaking from his head and his clothes dyed red; the front passenger crying and jiggling her door which wouldn’t budge even when Alec reached it and used all his strength against it; and the girl in the backseat–a girl named Jen–unconscious, slumped against her seatbelt. Her door worked, so–

He growled, blinked it away and put his head in his hands.

By day, Pete Aldin delivers a program for people with disabilities; by night, he sits at a laptop and writes. His short fiction has appeared in publications including Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, and Niteblade. His non-fiction has appeared in parenting and business magazines. He is a big fan of alcoholic ciders, the FIFA franchise on xBox and (being an Australian) Vegemite. He is a member of the Australian Horror Writers Association and the Chelsea Dark Fiction Writers Circle. He don’t like pina coladas nor taking walks in the rain.

It’s kind of become a tradition that I interview the contributors to my anthologies and share those interviews on my blog. It’s also kind of become a tradition that it takes me a very long time to get them all posted. I plan to continue the first tradition but I’m hoping to avoid the second. Just to be different.

We’re continuing the Chimeric contributor interviews with Michael Kellar. I think I first met Michael when he submitted to (and had his work accepted for) Metastasisand he has also contributed to every Alphabet Anthology so far 🙂

What letter were you assigned?

X

Did you struggle with the letter you were given?

No, it was actually perfect for my story.

What was your favourite idea for the ‘word’ to use in your title that you didn’t use?

I used the very first one which came to mind.

What kind of chimera is your story about?

A medical chimera: when a species has has an organ and/or tissue from another species used in a transplant.

What, other than the letter you were assigned, helped inspire your story?

1) I had recently read a book concerning “The Promise of Transplanting Animal Organs into Humans”. (That was the subtitle; I cannot give the primary title without giving too strong a hint as to what my letter stands for.)

2) I had seen a cartoon in an issue of Rue Morgue where the Frankenstein Monster is standing at the Pearly Gates in Heaven and is told (something to the effect) that “Parts of you can get in and parts of you can’t.”

Both of these sort of came together and triggered my story.

Lion, goat or snake–which are you more like?

Not a goat; it could be eaten or killed by the other two. Not a lion as being king of the jungle it too high maintenance. Probably a snake as no one really can predict what a snake is likely to do in any given situation. And snakes are cool.

If you were going to be magically transformed into a chimera composed of three different creatures, what would you want them to be?

A raven for flight, a tortoise for longevity, and a spider because that is one of my totem creatures.

What if it wasn’t limited to creatures? What three things would you want to be composed of?

Rock, paper, scissors. No matter what, I would always be able to come out a winner.

Unrealizable dreams have been called chimeras. Taking the ‘unrealizable’ part out of the equation, what is one of your fondest dreams/goals?

The one of my goals which is most relevant to this interview is to make it to the “Z is for…” volume of this series without Rhonda pulling her hair out or breaking all of her editorial red pencils.

Can you share a short excerpt from your story?

I hope this is suggestive without giving too much away:

“As the days passed, Shannon slowly began to sort out fact from drug-induced fiction regarding her recent memories. She recalled an endless parade of doctors and nurses, all intense and caring and calming and solicitous. She recalled very forcibly vomiting up the first bit of semi-solid food (some kind of pudding) that a nurse had attempted to fed her. (Something to do with being in shock.) Probably fact. Then there were frequent visits by an older man she did not know and was not dressed in any kind of uniform. No one else seemed to interact with him. So, probably an illusion. A small sliver of ice she had been given was the most wonderful item she had ever tasted in her life. a couple of times a rather formal woman stopped in to discuss some type of legal matters and asked her if she understood the concept of “implied consent”.

The significance of the latter came into sharper focus when she noticed the scar.”

MICHAEL KELLAR is a writer, poet, and occasional online bookseller living in Myrtle Beach, SC.

His anthology appearances include “Side Show 2: Tales of the Big Top and the Bizarre”, “Metastasis: An Anthology to Support Cancer Research”, “Bones II”, “Bones III”, “A is for Apocalypse”, “B is for Broken”, “The Grays”, “Zombified: Hazardous Material” and “The Temporal Element II”.

He has also had poetry published in “Gothic Blue Book III: The Graveyard Edition”, and had fiction appear online as well as in a few magazines.

It’s kind of become a tradition that I interview the contributors to my anthologies and share those interviews on my blog. It’s also kind of become a tradition that it takes me a very long time to get them all posted. I plan to continue the first tradition but I’m hoping to avoid the second. Just to be different.

We’re continuing the Chimeric contributor interviews with a familiar name on my blog–Beth Cato. Beth and I first met a long time ago on Livejournal, when Livejournal was still relevant, and even though we live a very long way from one another she’s one of my best friends. She’s also an incredibly talented writer who I would admire even if I didn’t like her on a personal level (which I do, obviously :-p) 🙂

What letter were you assigned?

S.

Did you struggle with the letter you were given?

A little bit, yes. When I think of chimeras, I think of the gremlins in my Clockwork Dagger series, and I really wanted a fresh take on the concept.

What kind of chimera is your story about?

A genetic modification of a little boy who assumes a “tiger” nature in his post-apocalyptic world.

What, other than the letter you were assigned, helped inspire your story?

I write a lot of stories that take place after the collapse of civilization. As I tried to think of a good setting for an ‘S” story, I gravitated to my familiar, horrible places.

Lion, goat or snake–which are you more like?

More leonine, I think. I’m a cat person all the way.

If you were going to be magically transformed into a chimera composed of three different creatures, what would you want them to be?

Gosh, probably cat, horse, and human. Which would surprise absolutely no one who knows me.

What if it wasn’t limited to creatures? What three things would you want to be composed of?

I don’t even know how to answer this one, though I am laughing at the thought of being rendered into some sort of multi-purpose Kitchen-Aid and oven chimera.

Unrealizable dreams have been called chimeras. Taking the ‘unrealizable’ part out of the equation, what is one of your fondest dreams/goals?

Um, I had the goal of being a Nebula or Hugo nominee, and now I’m a Nebula finalist–for a novella about chimeras. It’d still be awfully nice to win one of the big awards.

Can you share a short excerpt from your story?

“Be careful out there, Tiger,” Doctor said, as she did every day when she let Tiger Boy out through the narrow basement window.

“Tiger Boy,” he corrected, as he did daily.

“Yes, Tiger Boy.” Her smile was more wobbly than usual.

He knew she didn’t like letting him out by his lonesome, but he couldn’t stay pent up for days and days on end. He started to get restless and toy around with things, and that was really, really bad in a laboratory. She used to joke that she wasn’t sure if his mischief came from his Tiger or Boy nature, but she hadn’t said that in a long time.

She didn’t say too much at all, these days.

Beth Cato hails from Hanford, California, but currently writes and bakes cookies in a lair west of Phoenix, Arizona. She shares the household with a hockey-loving husband, a numbers-obsessed son, and a cat the size of a canned ham.

She’s the author of THE CLOCKWORK DAGGER (a 2015 Locus Award finalist for First Novel) and THE CLOCKWORK CROWN from Harper Voyager.

It’s kind of become a tradition that I interview the contributors to my anthologies and share those interviews on my blog. It’s also kind of become a tradition that it takes me a very long time to get them all posted. I plan to continue the first tradition but I’m hoping to avoid the second. Just to be different. We’re going to start off this week with a newcomer to the Alphabet Anthology series–Michael B. Tager. As seems to happen every time someone new joins the crew Michael was assigned one of the trickier letters in the alphabet, but I’ll let him tell you about it in his

What letter were you assigned?

Q. Because there’s no better way to inspire creativity than to be given constraints like that.

Did you struggle with the letter you were given?

Kind of? Sometimes I like to write from the title backward, so I looked up interesting words that start with Q. in a way, it’s easier (imagine looking through all the Ms for a fun word).

What was your favourite idea for the ‘word’ to use in your title that you didn’t use?

The story that appears in C is for Chimera was actually the second story I wrote. Quietus was the first word, which didn’t pan out for this anthology, unfortunately, but it’s still a dope piece (and published elsewhere).

What kind of chimera is your story about?

It’s both a creature—though not the directly mythological—and one of the other meanings: illusory.

What, other than the letter you were assigned, helped inspire your story?

Who knows where inspiration comes? While sometimes I can find a direct source, most often it’s a combination of inspirations. This is one of the latter occasions.

Lion, goat or snake–which are you more like?

That’s like asking what magical house you’d be Sorted into. We all want to think we’re the lion or the snake, but hell, I’m probably a goat (though I’m not particularly sure-footed).

If you were going to be magically transformed into a chimera composed of three different creatures, what would you want them to be? Honey badger, otter, porcupine.

What if it wasn’t limited to creatures? What three things would you want to be composed of?

Air, tacos, haughty.

Unrealizable dreams have been called chimeras. Taking the ‘unrealizable’ part out of the equation, what is one of your fondest dreams/goals?

Well, I’m making a go of it at this writer thing/publisher/editor thing. I think it’ll happen, albeit slowly. .

Can you share a short excerpt from your story?

While the master regained energy, the student chanced and look down, past her flowing amber robes, past the next fifty yards of ladder, to the jutting outline of their destination. The ancient cold metal of the ladder burned through her sandals and into her callused feet. She ignored the depths below her. She repeated the mantra of the monastery. Life is the illusion before death. We were nothing before we were something. We will be nothing again. The quaking in her gut subsided.

When the master was ready, they continued. It rained briefly, a harsh, cold rain that set their teeth to chattering. She missed her long hair that would have kept her degrees warmer. She wished for better under things than the shapeless rags under her robes. But she repeated the mantra over and over. She was not special. She was part of the world.

Michael B. Tager is the author of the fiction collection “Always Tomorrow” and “Pop Culture Poems,” a poetry chapbook (Mason Jar Press). He is currently writing a book of memoir told through essays about video games. He likes Buffy and the Baltimore Orioles. Find more of his work online at michaelbtager.com.

Over the coming weeks I’d like to share interviews that Magnus and I conducted with the contributors to Corvidae andScarecrow. This week we’ll talk with Laura VanArendonk Baugh. I really probably should have combined this with Laura’s interview for Scarecrow but, uh, well I didn’t. So there you go 😉

Interview with Laura VanArendonk Baugh

What is it about corvids that inspired you to write about them? Corvids are kind of underappreciated. That is, lots of people like them, but they like them for their gothic reputation and associations, like Poe’s poem. Don’t get me wrong, I like gothic associations! but corvids are more than that. (I’m also a big fan of bats and all their vampiric trappings, but bats are also cool for more than just their Transylvanian relatives. Build a bat house!)

Was there one corvid characteristic you wanted to highlight more than others? So here’s the thing – my story features a corvid cognition researcher and a trainer, and yet nothing in it remotely stretches the truth of corvid capability. As far as cognition and behavior goes, the story is pretty boring. So when truth is more impressive than fiction, they must be pretty clever birds.

My day job is in animal behavior, so it was fun to get to write a nerdy behavior story where that stuff was actually plot-relevant. And in fact this story was directly inspired by a friend’s impressive research in counting (in dogs), so I enjoyed that!

Do you think you were successful? I hope so. In the sequel story, in Scarecrow, a character mentions that humans only respect and conserve those bits of nature which fascinate or impress them. As a professional I can tell you that all animals are much more clever than you think – you just don’t generally get a chance to see them in action. If we thought of them as sentient and smart, it would change how we do a lot of things, from industrial farming to environmental conservation.

As you may know, one of Edmonton’s local Twitter personalities is Magnus E. Magpie who haunts Twitter as @YEGMagpie. I invited him to read an advance copy of Corvidae and Scarecrow and offer a short cawmentary on each story from a magpie’s point of view, which he did. When he was finished I asked if there was anything he’d like to ask the contributors. The italicized portions are mine because Magnus didn’t ask straight-forward questions on account of he’s a magpie 🙂 Laura’s answers may sound familiar on account of that Scarecrow contributor interview thing, but it’s too late for me to change that 😉

Mr. Yegpie: I also would sure love to know where they got their ideas from! I caught several familiar references from existing books and mythology and fairy tales; I like seeing people riff off stuff. (What inspired your story/poem?) At a training and behavior conference, a training friend (the always-amazing Ken Ramirez) shared some of his research on what I’ll describe simply as counting in dogs. As we sat at the faculty table for dinner the next night, I told him he’d given me an idea for a story. This story ended up being only partly related to that first idea, but that’s how ideas work, right?

Mr. Yegpie: I think I would like to know what people’s favourite corvid is though; and if it isn’t a magpie, WHYEVER NOT?!? (If they come back with some guff about crows using tools, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL SEND THEM A COPY OF MY ROGERS BILL. Pffft, crows.) (What is your favourite corvid?) Okay, after all my guff about people liking corvids only for their gothic associations…. I confess to liking ravens in particular just because of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem. I mean, come on. Vincent Price, enormous black birds, despair, what’s not to love?

But magpies can be very striking, visually. I wish we had magpies locally to admire.

I guessed, but I had to Google to confirm – a Rogers bill is for wireless and internet, so Mr. Yegpie uses a smart phone for all his tweeting! Clever bird. 🙂

Laura was born at a very early age and never looked back. She overcame childhood deficiencies of having been born without teeth or developed motor skills, and by the time she matured into a recognizable adult she had become a behavior analyst, an internationally-recognized animal trainer, a costumer/cosplayer, a dark chocolate addict, and a Pushcart Prize-nominated author with a following for her folklore-based stories and speculative fiction. Find her at www.LauraVanArendonkBaugh.com.

Over the coming weeks I’d like to share interviews that I conducted with the contributors to Corvidae andScarecrow. This week we’ll talk with Megan Engelhardt. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Megan before, but she and her sister also have the rather dubious honour of being the first people I ever took a selfie with ;0)

Interview with Megan Engelhardt

Please share a short excerpt from your story:

A feather is mounted on the wall in Zinnia’s study. It is just over two feet long. The feather is iridescent blue with hints of green, yellow and even a little red revealed in just the right light. It is very soft to touch. I remember how soft.

It is on her wall, Zinnia says, to remind us of our great failure, of the time we were neither quick enough nor clever enough. It is the reason we will never again work for hire. It is the reason why even now, years later, we pay our respects to every magpie that crosses our paths.

We owe it to them. We owe them our lives.

What is it about corvids that inspired you to write about them? They’re so smart — almost creepily so.

Was there one corvid characteristic you wanted to highlight more than others? That intelligence, and their adaptability, as well. Corvids are birds that get the job done, whatever the job happens to be.

If you were a corvid, what would you build your nest out of? Judging from my kitchen junk drawer, my nest would be built of bits of ribbon, slips of paper inscribed with things that I’m supposed to remember, Sharpie pens and small toys I’ve taken away from my children.

Despite being terrorized by chickens as a child, Megan Engelhardt still enjoys and respects birds — from a distance. She lives in northeastern Ohio with her husband and two sons and can be found online at megengelhardt.wordpress.com or on Twitter @MadMerryMeg.

Over the coming weeks I’d like to share interviews that Magnus and I conducted with the contributors to Corvidae andScarecrow. This week we’ll talk with Mike Allen.

Interview with Mike Allen

Please share a short excerpt from your story:

A spider with a leg span wider than my outstretched hand squeezed out from the space behind the light switch, and spread its wings.

I froze, my finger still on the toggle. Behind me the dust-draped ceiling fan hummed to life, the light bulb beneath it flicking on to paint the monster with my shadow.

The marks on its body formed a single staring eye above a screaming mouth.

What is it about corvids that inspired you to write about them? In this case a little bird approached me, heh, heh, and asked me to consider creating a corvid story that didn’t involve crows, ravens or magpies. I was intrigued with the idea of writing about a bluejay, because I have a thing for blue, and the more I read about these birds, the more inspiration I found. I had already written two short stories (“The Hiker’s Tale,” “Follow the Wounded One,” published) and a whole novel (unpublished) that take place in a world where certain special people have spirit animal forms possessed of immense power. I didn’t start out intending to set “The Cruelest Team Will Win” in that universe, but the elements just snapped into place unbidden.
Was there one corvid characteristic you wanted to highlight more than others? In the case of the bluejay, the ability the bird has to smash open acorns with a single peck of its beak.

If you were a corvid, what would you build your nest out of? The scalps of my enemies.

As you may know, one of Edmonton’s local Twitter personalities is Magnus E. Magpie who haunts Twitter as @YEGMagpie. I invited him to read an advance copy of Corvidae and Scarecrow and offer a short cawmentary on each story from a magpie’s point of view, which he did. When he was finished I asked if there was anything he’d like to ask the contributors. The italicized portions are mine because Magnus didn’t ask straight-forward questions on account of he’s a magpie 🙂

Mr. Yegpie: It would be cool to know where all these stories came from, I mean geographically – like I think I could tell who was from Edmonton and who was from Vancouver! (Where do you live, and did that affect your story/poem at all?) I live in the Appalachians, and though “The Cruelest Team Will Win” isn’t explicitly set there, all the other stories in the series most definitely are.

Mr. Yegpie: I also would sure love to know where they got their ideas from! I caught several familiar references from existing books and mythology and fairy tales; I like seeing people riff off stuff. (What inspired your story/poem?) At its heart, my fear of flying spiders.

Mr. Yegpie: I think I would like to know what people’s favourite corvid is though; and if it isn’t a magpie, WHYEVER NOT?!? (If they come back with some guff about crows using tools, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL SEND THEM A COPY OF MY ROGERS BILL. Pffft, crows.) (What is your favourite corvid?) I’m a raven man, myself.

Mike Allen edits the digital journal Mythic Delirium and the critically-acclaimed Clockwork Phoenix anthology series. He’s a three-time winner of the Rhysling Award for poetry; his short story “The Button Bin” was a Nebula Award finalist. His newest poetry collection, Hungry Constellations, offers a 20-year retrospective on his career, while his first collection of horror stories, Unseaming, debuted in October to starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. By day he’s the arts columnist for the daily newspaper in Roanoke, Virginia, where he lives with his wife and frequent project co-editor Anita Allen, as well as a dog named Loki and two sister-felines, Persephone and Pandora.

Over the coming weeks I’d like to share interviews that Magnus and I conducted with the contributors to Corvidae andScarecrow. This week we’ll talk with M.L.D. Curelas whose story allowed me to check off the ‘Steampunk corvid story’ on my TOC wishlist for this anthology 🙂

Interview with M.L.D. Curelas

Please share a short excerpt from your story:

“Right.” Hanna leaned forward and adjusted the knob of the gaslight lamp, brightening the alcove where they sat. “Let me see her up close.”

He lowered the bird to the table, and she hesitated, then stepped down, wings held aloft for balance, croaking irritably.

Jenny was mostly black and white, with streaks of blue on her wings and tail–a magpie. One of her legs was artificial, brass, by the look of it, with miniscule gears and cogs serving as joints. One eye was also clockwork. It click-clacked and a telescopic lens protruded from the socket.

What is it about corvids that inspired you to write about them? They’re so intelligent! Recommended reading for everyone: In the Company of Crows and Ravens. And I love Charles de Lint’s stories that focus on the Crow Girls and Lucius the Raven.

Was there one corvid characteristic you wanted to highlight more than others? I wanted to have the magpie muttering and participating in the conversations. I remember a few years ago hearing people talking in my backyard. It sounded almost like a cocktail party! I went outside and it was a magpie, having a conversation with herself.

Do you think you were successful? I think so. Jenny has opinions!

If you were a covid, what would you build your nest out of? Goat hair.

What’s your favourite ‘shiny’ thing? New books.

As you may know, one of Edmonton’s local Twitter personalities is Magnus E. Magpie who haunts Twitter as @YEGMagpie. I invited him to read an advance copy of Corvidae and Scarecrow and offer a short cawmentary on each story from a magpie’s point of view, which he did. When he was finished I asked if there was anything he’d like to ask the contributors. The italicized portions are mine because Magnus didn’t ask straight-forward questions on account of he’s a magpie 🙂

Mr. Yegpie: I also would sure love to know where they got their ideas from! I caught several familiar references from existing books and mythology and fairy tales; I like seeing people riff off stuff. (What inspired your story/poem?) Calgary, not too far from you!

Mr. Yegpie: I also would sure love to know where they got their ideas from! I caught several familiar references from existing books and mythology and fairy tales; I like seeing people riff off stuff. (What inspired your story/poem?) Corvids are known for their attraction to shiny things. It seemed that a magpie would be a good thief. Crows will often help wolves locate carcasses, so the magpie’s partner had to be a wolf.

Mr. Yegpie: I think I would like to know what people’s favourite corvid is though; and if it isn’t a magpie, WHYEVER NOT?!? (If they come back with some guff about crows using tools, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL SEND THEM A COPY OF MY ROGERS BILL. Pffft, crows.) (What is your favourite corvid?) Obviously, magpies.

M. L. D. Curelas lives in Calgary, Canada, with two humans and a varying number of guinea pigs. Raised on a diet of Victorian fiction and Stephen King, it’s unsurprising that she now writes and edits fantasy and science fiction. Her most recent short fiction, an Old West set steampunk story, can be found in the anthology Kisses by Clockwork. She is also the owner of Tyche Books, a Canadian small-press which publishes science fiction and fantasy.

Over the coming weeks I’d like to share interviews that Magnus and I conducted with the contributors to Corvidae andScarecrow. This week we’ll talk with Michael M. Rader.

Interview with Michael M. Rader

Please share a short excerpt from your story:

“He worked late on Tuesdays, perhaps rushing to meet some unknown deadline on Wednesday. His motivation doesn’t matter, his location matters, the solitude of the university matters. I padded softly through the darkened, echoing brick hallways of the animal sciences building. It was cold. This antiquated edifice is incapable of capturing heat; every wisp of warmth seeps through the crumbling mortar into the crisp October evening. I heard creaks and rumblings and voices and footsteps ricocheting through the building, but I knew we would be isolated in the ornithology wing, which is cast so, so very far away from the civilized lands of the grant-laden Primatologists and Herpetologists. I crept slowly down the hall, so very slowly, the minute hand of the steadily ticking clock in the old man’s office moved faster than my feet. In time, I noticed my heart joined the clock tick in synchronization, the clock and I had fused in purpose; it conspired with me to steal the old man’s time. This was a good omen, a sign my cause was pure and just. Time is reasonable, time is order and I am an orderly, reasonable woman.”

What is it about corvids that inspired you to write about them? I read a lot about animal behavior, and I’m particularly interested in animals that use tools and exhibit higher intelligence like mirror self-recognition. Naturally, most of these animals are great apes, but there are two fascinating outliers: cephalopods and corvidae. Cephalopods have giant brains, so that’s maybe less surprising. However, the phrase “bird brain” exists for a reason. Birds have physically small brains, and anyone who has spent a lot of time with your average bird is not going to be terribly impressed with their intelligence. Except for corvidae. Ravens can use tools, Eurasian Magpies can recognize themselves in mirrors (the only non-mammal capable of doing that), and crows can recognize faces and communicate descriptions. No other family of bird can do that. They’re not just weirdos in the animal kingdom, they’re weirdos in their own class. I guess I just have a soft spot for that.

Was there one corvid characteristic you wanted to highlight more than others? Definitely the concept of the corvidae family’s higher intelligence, and also how some members of their family (blue jays) aren’t quite as impressive.

Do you think you were successful? I set out to tell a story about intelligence, how it differs from sense, and how just being in the right bird family (or academic setting) doesn’t make you intelligent, practical, sensical or sane. I believe the characters in my story, and the corvidae they study, really highlight that characteristic.

If you were a corvid, what would you build your nest out of? Memory foam for comfort, pages from Discworld novels for entertainment and strips of political manifestos just to be edgy.

As you may know, one of Edmonton’s local Twitter personalities is Magnus E. Magpie who haunts Twitter as @YEGMagpie. I invited him to read an advance copy of Corvidae and Scarecrow and offer a short cawmentary on each story from a magpie’s point of view, which he did. When he was finished I asked if there was anything he’d like to ask the contributors. The italicized portions are mine because Magnus didn’t ask straight-forward questions on account of he’s a magpie 🙂

Mr. Yegpie: It would be cool to know where all these stories came from, I mean geographically – like I think I could tell who was from Edmonton and who was from Vancouver! (Where do you live, and did that affect your story/poem at all?) I’m from Colorado, right on at the foot of the rocky mountains. You’ll be happy to know we have the same sort of Magpies here as in Edmonton, although perhaps less handsome and sophisticated. I believe my location did affect my story a fair bit since I based my descriptions on local flora and fauna, and the university in my story is very heavily based on my own.

Mr. Yegpie: I also would sure love to know where they got their ideas from! I caught several familiar references from existing books and mythology and fairy tales; I like seeing people riff off stuff. (What inspired your story/poem?) My story was stolen very blatantly from a story called The Tell-Tale Heart by some guy named Edgar Allan Poe. Fortunately he’s dead and can’t do much about it. Well, he could haunt me, but I’d be far more flattered than frightened if he did so.

More personally, I wrote this while struggling through a very difficult project at my university that ended up delaying my graduation by a year, so more than a few of my feelings and frustrations inspired this story. My professor is still very much alive, though, and I wish him no ill will.

Mr. Yegpie: I think I would like to know what people’s favourite corvid is though; and if it isn’t a magpie, WHYEVER NOT?!? (If they come back with some guff about crows using tools, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL SEND THEM A COPY OF MY ROGERS BILL. Pffft, crows.) (What is your favourite corvid?) While I did write about blue jays in my story, it was only to highlight how silly and stupid they are in comparison to the far superior members of their family: crows, ravens and magpies. While this may sound ingratiating, I do think magpies win out over the other corvids since they can recognize themselves in mirrors on top of being able to use tools. That’s gorilla level intelligence there, and we humans will likely be subservient to your kind in a century or so.

Michael M. Rader lives in Colorado with his wife and two children where he does dad things, engineers electrical things and writes spooky things.